La Sierra University: English and Communication: Fall 2007 Course Descriptions

COMM 104: Fundamentals of Oral Communication
Instructor: Dan Tinianow T, R 3:00-4:50 PM
Course Description:
Public speaking is an essential skill in almost any pursuit in life. It is also one of the most commonly occurring fears. The fundamental skills of public speaking are preparation and practice. The course assignments will enable you to develop as a skilled public speaker.
Required Text:
Pocket Guide to Public Speaking 2nd Ed.

COMM 226: Mass Media in Society
Instructor: Dan Tinianow M, T, R, F 9:00-9:50 AM
Course Description:
The media are present in every aspect of our lives and impact almost every part of our consciousness. This course will prepare you to discuss media and their role in society from an informed base.
Required Text:
Media & Culture. 2009 Ed. (Latest Edition)

COMM 238: Intro to Writing for Print Media
Instructor: Christine Law T, R 1:00-2:50 PM
Course Description:
An introductory course to journalism and other print media. Students gather news and write news stories; analyze coverage of national events; and write in other print media genres. An emphasis is placed on style,
biases, ethics, and diversity in sources. Also listed as ENGL 238. Prerequisite-ENGL 113 or ENGL 124.
Required Texts:
See instructor for final list.
Rich, Carole. Writing and Reporting News: A Coaching Method. 5th Ed.
Suggested Texts:
The Associated Press Stylebook, Pocket Dictionary

COMM 244: Interpersonal Communication
Instructor: Christine Law M, T, R, F 10:00-10:50 AM
Course Description:
An introductory course that aims to increase the knowledge, skills, and confidence of students when they communicate in diverse interpersonal situations. Investigates elements important for effective communication in situations such as interviews, public speaking, social conversation, and small groups.
Required Texts:
See instructor for final list.
Canary, D. Cody, M. and Manusov, V. Interpersonal Communication
Carnegie, Dale. Quick & Easy Way to Effective Speaking

COMM 264B: Living in the Information Age
Instructor: Dan Tinianow M, T, R, F 10:00-10:50 AM
Course Description:
Technology is meaningless without considering its human impact. This course will explore how communication technology impacts individuals, society and culture. What does it mean to the individual and to society to be living in the information age?
Required Texts: To be announced.

COMM 264 (N): Speech/Debate Team, National Human Rights
Instructor: Christine Law M 7:00-8:50 PM
Course Description:
This course provides a community of intercollegiate speech & debate as a means to create personal leadership, transformation and growth; promote the value of argumentative discourse as a means of producing reasoned, measured, cooperative solutions to contemporary problems of social and political significance; and promote advocacy of national, international, and economic human rights. (May be repeated with new content for additional credit.) Maximum of 4 units may be applied to Communication major.
Prerequisite: Qualified to take ENGL 111 (or higher).
Suggested Texts:
See instructor for final list.
Crossman, Mark (2004). Burden of Proof: An Introduction to Argumentation and Guide to Parliamentary Debate.

COMM 285/485: Colloquium
Instructors: TBA 3 Sections: M 11:00 AM (2), T 5:00 PM
Course Description:
Discussion of issues pertinent to the discipline and with a goal of intellectual engagement. No purchased text is required. One of the sections is restricted to Juniors/Seniors and requires attendance at an English or Communication conference as well as possible additional fees. Also listed as ENGL 285/485.
COMM 288: Communication Theory I
Instructor: Mary Wilson M, W 1:00-2:50 PM
Course Description:
An introductory survey of fundamental content in communication. The focus is on the practical usefulness of a social scientific approach to the study of communication (description, explanation, prediction, and application).
Required Text:
Griffin, Em. (2009). A First Look at Communication Theory. 7th Ed. McGraw-Hill. ISBN: 13 9780073385020

COMM 297/497: Drama Production
Instructor: Marilynn Loveless Times: TBA
Course Description:
Preparation and formal performance of a dramatic production through the English and Communication Department. Students may receive credit for a variety of tasks, including acting, writing, staging, etc. Open to freshman students with permission of the instructor. Section A is for Performance, Section B is for Technical Production, Section C is for Technical Design, Section D is for PR & Publications, Section F is for Playreading. Also listed as ENGL 297/497.
Required Texts: To be announced.

COMM 344: Gender and Communication
Instructor: Mary Wilson M, W 3:00-4:50 PM
Course Description:
This course focuses on the interactive relationships between gender and communication in contemporary American society. Your experiences, insights, questions, and ideas are a key part of this course. We’ll consider not only what is in terms of gender roles, but also what might be and how we, as change agents, may act to improve our individual and collective lives.
Required Text:
Ivy, Diana and Backlund, Philip. (2004). GenderSpeak: Personal effectiveness in gender communication. 3rd ed. NY. McGraw-Hill. ISBN: 0072483938

COMM 405C: Playwriting
Instructor: Marilynn Loveless T, R 3:00-4:50 PM
Course Description:
Advanced theoretical and practical application of playwriting techniques. Also listed as ENGL 405C/505C.
Required Texts: To be announced.

ENGL 124: Freshman Seminar
Instructor: Robert Dunn M, T, R, F 9:00-9:50 AM
Course Description:
Gives the well-prepared student an opportunity to read and evaluate more challenging material and write more sophisticated papers than is characteristic of those written for the College Writing sequence.
Admission is by invitation based on performance on a placement test and the consent of the instructor. A grade of B or better enables the student to meet the entire College Writing requirement in one quarter.
Required Texts: To be announced.

ENGL 150H: Adventures in Literature: Heroes
Instructor: Lora Geriguis M, T, R, F 9:00-9:50 AM
Course Description:
Heroes—male and female, young and old, black, white, and green—live, fight, and die in literature from the Medieval to the Modern Periods. During this class, we will undertake a journey through the English and American canons in a quest to discover the qualities that make a hero, the pitfalls that bring him down, and the role that heroism plays in culture.
NOTE: English 150 is designed for first-year students. Prerequisite: eligibility for Engl 111.
Required Texts:
Beowulf and Judith (Trask, ed. University Press of America. ISBN 978-0761808251)
Sir Gawain and the Green Knight (Unknown/Cooper/Harrison. Oxford World’s Classics. 1998 ISBN 978-0192833341)
Pilgrim’s Progress (Buynan/Owens. Oxford World’s Classics 2003 ISBN 978-0192803610)
Oroonoko (Behn/Todd Penguin Classics 2003 ISBN 978-0140439885)
The Narrative of the Captivity and Restoration of Mary Rowlandson (Hard Press 2006 ISBN 978-1406944013)
The Legend of Sleepy Hollow (Washington Irving. Filigquarian Press 2006 ISBN 978-1599869308)
Lord of the Files (William Golding. Penguin Great Books of the 20th century. 1999 ISBN 978-0140283334).

English 210: Survey of British Literature I, To 1600
Instructor: Robert Dunn M, T, R, F 10:00-10:50 AM
Course Description:
A survey of foundational English texts through the Sixteenth Century. These include Beowulf, Chaucer, Thomas More, Philip Sidney, Edmund Spenser, and the non-dramatic poetry of William Shakespeare.
Prerequisite-ENGL 113 or ENGL 124.
Required Texts:
The Norton Anthology of English Literature, Vol. 1

ENGL 238: Intro to Writing for Print Media
Instructor: Christine Law T, R 1:00-2:50 PM
Course Description:
An introductory course to journalism and other print media. Students gather news and write news stories; analyze coverage of national events; and write in other print media genres. An emphasis is placed on style, biases, ethics, and diversity in sources. Also listed as COMM 238. Prerequisite-ENGL 113 or ENGL 124.
Required Texts:
See instructor for final list.
Rich, Carole. Writing and Reporting News: A Coaching Method. 5th Ed.
Suggested Texts:
The Associated Press Stylebook, Pocket Dictionary

ENGL 246E: Literary Forms and Ideas: Introduction to ActingInstructors: Marilynn Loveless M, W 3:00-4:50 PM
Course Description:
Students will find joy and confidence in connecting with fellow players while rehearsing or in performance. They will develop a technique for building a character based on script analysis as they gain a critical appreciation for “good acting.” Students will also expand their creative imagination.
Required Texts: To be announced.

ENGL 246F: Literary Forms and Ideas: Creative Writing
Instructors: Sari Fordham M, T, R, F 10:00-10:50 PM
Course Description:
Students will gather as editor/artists. They will write poetry, fiction, and creative nonfiction, creating a portfolio in each. Emphasis will be placed on taking risks, seeking concrete details, creating imagery, and
seeking economy in language.
Required Texts: To be announced.

ENGL 285/485: Colloquium
Instructors: TBA 3 Sections: M 11:00 AM (2), T 5:00 PM
Course Description:
Discussion of issues pertinent to the discipline and with a goal of intellectual engagement. No purchased text is required. One of the sections is restricted to Juniors/Seniors and requires attendance at an English or Communication conference as well as possible additional fees. Also listed as COMM 285/485.

ENGL 297/497: Drama Production
Instructor: Marilynn Loveless Times: TBA
Course Description:
Preparation and formal performance of a dramatic production through the English and Communication Department. Students may receive credit for a variety of tasks, including acting, writing, staging, etc. Open to freshman students with permission of the instructor. Section A is for Performance, Section B is for Technical Production, Section C is for Technical Design, Section D is for PR & Publications, Section F is for Playreading. Also listed as COMM 297/497.
Required Texts: To be announced.

ENGL 405C/505C: Playwriting
Instructor: Marilynn Loveless T, R 3:00-4:50 PM
Course Description:
Advanced theoretical and practical application of playwriting techniques. Also listed as COMM 405C.
Required Texts: To be announced.

ENGL 414C/514C: World Literature-Colonialism to Post-Colonialism
Instructor: Lora Geriguis W 6:00-9:50 PM
Course Description:
British Imperial policy can be said to be among the most influential and devastating forces of the last 400 years of human history. We will be examining the way writers participated in, responded to, and fought against mercantile colonialism, Imperialism, and the later independence movements. The Atlantic slave trade will also be considered for how its representation and practices are registered in the texts we read. The colonial histories of other European countries may be examined as well (i.e. Spain, France, Holland). Anglophone or translated texts from the 17th to the 20th centuries will be compared and contrasted to one another.
Required Texts:
See instructor for final list.
Hughes, Derek. Versions of Blackness: Key Texts on Slavery in the Seventeenth Century. Cambridge University Press (2007) ISBN 978-0521689564

Carretta, Vincent. Unchained Voices: An Anthology of Black Authors in the English-Speaking World of the 18th Century. University of Kentucky (2004) ISBN 0-8131-9076-2

Gilbert, Helen. Postcolonial Plays: An Anthology. Routledge: 2001. ISBN 978-0415164498

Achebe, Chinua. Things Fall Apart. Anchor (1994) ISBN 978-0385474542

Kincaid, Jamica. A Small Place. Farrar, Straus and Giroux (2000) ISBN 978-0374527075

Paton, Alan. Cry the Beloved Country Vintage (2002) ISBN978-0099766810

ENGL 415B/515B: Modern Children’s Literature, Post 1940
Instructor: Winona Howe M, W 1:00-2:50 PM
Course Description:
This class is designed to introduce students to a wide range of literature written for children. Emphasis will be placed on reading and evaluating modern children’s books (pre-school to reading level 5) through investigation of significant authors and works, diverse genres, problem areas, literary merit, etc.
Required Texts:

ENGL 425S/525S: Asian American Literature
Instructor: Elissa Kido T, R 3:00-4:50 PM
Course Description: Course Description: This course examines literature by American writers of Asian descent, drawing heavily on Chinese and Japanese American Literature of the 20th century. Students will study the American experience through Asian-American writings, exploring major themes and issues (such as immigration, acculturation, national history, race, class, generation, gender, and language) that contributed to the development of the Asian-American identity and consciousness .
Required Texts: To be announced.

ENGL 467C/567C: Topics in Drama: Improv
Instructor: Marilynn Loveless F 1:00-5:00 PM
Course Description:
Students will learn the basic skills of improvisational theater including, acceptance, story telling, character development, and the ability to act and think spontaneously. They will gain a theoretical and experiential understanding of how improv can enhance aspects of life including teaching, worship, preaching, etc. The course will emphasize the value of improvisational theater as a communication medium based on acceptance and inclusion.
Required Texts: To be announced.
ENGL 635C: Major Author, Wilkie Collins
Instructor: Winona Howe T 5:00-8:50 PM
Course Description:
Wilkie Collins was known as a rebel in Victorian times--both for his unconventional life and for his facility in combining sensational topics with serious social concerns. Many of these concerns were shared by Charles Dickens (a close personal friend), although the two authors had very different literary styles and different ways of approaching the social problems they chose to address. We will read a number of Collins’ novels, noting how they are, in some ways, quite representative of the literature of the times, yet how they are also ahead of their time in topic and treatment.
Required Texts:

ENGL 606: COMP THEORY AND PRACTICE
Instructor: Melissa Brotton M 5:00-8:50 PM
Course Description:
Designed as both theoretical and practical, this course emphasizes major composition theorists and their research. Students explore writing as a process through frequent writing opportunities. Students analyze theory, research, grammar and writing experiences to discover principles for effective teaching. This class is required for all students in their first year of the College Writing Instructor program.
Required Texts: To be announced.

Instructor: Winona Howe M, W 1:00-2:50 PM
Course Description:
This class is designed to introduce students to a wide range of literature written for children. Emphasis will be placed on reading and evaluating modern children’s books (pre-school to reading level 5) through investigation of significant authors and works, diverse genres, problem areas, literary merit, etc.
Required Texts:

ENGL 467C/567C: Topics in Drama: Improv
Instructor: Marilynn Loveless F 1:00-5:00 PM
Course Description:
Students will learn the basic skills of improvisational theater including, acceptance, story telling, character development, and the ability to act and think spontaneously. They will gain a theoretical and experiential understanding of how improv can enhance aspects of life including teaching, worship, preaching, etc. The course will emphasize the value of improvisational theater as a communication medium based on acceptance and inclusion.
Required Texts: To be announced.

ENGL 635C: Major Author, Wilkie Collins
Instructor: Winona Howe T 5:00-8:50 PM
Course Description:
Wilkie Collins was known as a rebel in Victorian times--both for his unconventional life and for his facility in combining sensational topics with serious social concerns. Many of these concerns were shared by Charles Dickens (a close personal friend), although the two authors had very different literary styles and different ways of approaching the social problems they chose to address. We will read a number of Collins’ novels, noting how they are, in some ways, quite representative of the literature of the times, yet how they are also ahead of their time in topic and treatment.
Required Texts: